A report published by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism on Tuesday found there is a great deal more antisemitism to combat in Canada today compared to a year ago.
According to the report, antisemitic incidents in Canada have skyrocketed by 670 percent since Hamas raped, murdered, and kidnapped hundreds of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023.
The report documented a surge in violence against Canadian Jews, including gun and arson attacks on synagogues, community centers, and schools. The increase in antisemitic activity was closely correlated with pro-Palestinian street protests and campus demonstrations.
The report also tracked non-violent “yellow alert” examples of antisemitic vandalism and harassment, such as a Jewish cemetery in Montreal that was defaced with swastikas and “green alert” incidents that amounted to offensive speech.
According to the ministry, Jews now comprise 70 percent of the victims of hate crimes in Canada, even though they are only 1.4 percent of the population.
The report singled out several individuals and organizations for stoking anti-semitism after October 7, including Ontario lawmaker Sarah Jama, who has been condemned by the Ontario parliament for her incendiary rhetoric.
Another individual cited by the ministry was Lebanese-Canadian activist Laith Marouf, whose advocacy organization collected over $500,000 in contracts from the Canadian government before he began saying Jews deserve “a bullet to the head” on social media. His outstanding contracts have since been canceled.
“We are working with the Jewish community, and in November, we will host a course for 30 Canadian rabbis and community leaders to empower them during this difficult time,” Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said when rolling out the antisemitism report.
“We are constantly tracking the perpetrators of antisemitism and delegitimization of Israel, collaborating with authorities to curb their actions and ban them,” Chikli promised.
“This has been a very difficult year for Jewish students on campus. Across Ontario, students have reported more than 500 incidents of antisemitism, ranging from graffiti and hateful rhetoric to violent and intimidating occupations of campus,” Hillel Ontario chief advancement officer Jay Solomon said on Tuesday.
“On a daily basis, we continue to hear from students who are being shamefully targeted – both on campus and online – simply for being Jewish. This is unacceptable and counter to the values Canadians hold dear,” Solomon said.
The latest high-profile example of antisemitic violence occurred on Saturday, when the Bais Chaya Mushka girls school in Toronto was hit by gunfire for the second time this year. Fortunately, no one was injured in the attack.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “very disturbed” by the Yom Kippur attack.
“Antisemitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hate – and we won’t let it stand,” Trudeau vowed.
On Tuesday, both the Canadian and U.S. governments designated a Canada-registered “sham charity” called Samidoun a terrorist organization, identifying it as a fundraising operation for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), one of the terrorist gangs that perpetrated the October 7 atrocities.
Samidoun, which was designated a terrorist organization by the Israeli government in 2021, was cited in the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs report as a major source of antisemitic agitation in Canada.
“This is a very dangerous organization fostering hate in Canada and carrying on activities on behalf of an already listed entity,” said Canadian lawmaker Anthony Housefeather, who was tapped as Trudeau’s Special Adviser on Antisemitism in July.
The Jerusalem Post spoke with Canadian Jews in early October who said the atmosphere of intimidation has grown more palpable in Canada over the past year, to the point where some are afraid to attend synagogue or participate in public Jewish festivals.
“Walking around Vancouver, you would think that we live next door to the Gaza Strip. Pro-Hamas protests and bomb threats to Jewish institutions make me feel uncomfortable disclosing I am Jewish and for my own safety,” observed a Jewish resident of that Canadian metropolis.
“Antisemitism is systemic in the academic environment. It manifests in public displays, campus encampments, graffiti, and even physical attacks on Jewish students,” B’nai Brith Canada director of research and advocacy Rich Robertson told the Jerusalem Post. “It’s ingrained in the culture, with faculty spreading misinformation and teaching ahistorical narratives.”